Silk refers to a filamentous product secreted by an organism such as a spider or silkworm. Fibroin is the primary structural component of silk. It is composed of monomeric units comprising an about 350 kDa heavy chain and an about 25 kDa light chain, and interspersed within the fibroin monomers is another about 25 kDa protein derived from the P25 gene. The ratio of heavy chain:light chain:P25 protein is about 6:6:1. Fibroin is secreted by the silk glands of the organism as a pair of complementary fibrils called “brins”. As fibroin brins leave the glands, they are coated with sericin, a glue-like substance which binds the brins together. Sericin is often antigenic and may be associated with an adverse tissue reaction when sericin-containing silk is implanted in vivo.
Silkworm silk fibers traditionally available in the commercial market are often termed “degummed”, which refers to the loosening and removal of a portion of the sericin coat surrounding the two fibroin brins through washing or extraction in hot soapy water. This degummed silk often contains or is recoated with sericin and other impurities in order to bind the plied multifilament together into a single fiber. Therefore, degummed silk, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, typically contains twenty percent to twenty-eight percent (by weight) sericin and can not be assumed to be sericin-free.
Silk fibers have historically been valued in surgery for their mechanical properties, particularly in the form of braided filaments used as a suture material. Residual sericin that may be contained in these materials stands as a potential obstacle to its use as a biomaterial as it does present the possibility for a heightened immune response. This sericin contamination may be substantially removed though, resulting in a virtually sericin-free fibroin which may be used either as fibers or dissolved and reconstituted in a number of forms. For example, natural silk from the silkworm Bombyx mori may be subjected to sericin extraction, spun into yarns then used to create a matrix with high tensile strength suitable for applications such as bioengineered ligaments and tendons. Use of regenerated silk materials has also been proposed for a number of medical purposes including wound protection, cell culture substrate, enzyme immobilization, soft contact lenses, and drug-release agents.
Silk fibroin devices whether native, dissolved, or reconstituted, do not typically contain cell-binding domains such as those found in collagen, fibronectin, and many other extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules. Fibroin is also strongly hydrophobic due to the β-sheet-rich crystalline network of the core fibroin protein. These two factors couple to severely limit the capacity of native host cells to bind to and interact with implanted silk devices, as neither inflammatory cells like macrophages or reparative cells like fibroblasts are able to attach strongly, infiltrate and bioresorb the silk fibroin devices. In the case of virgin silk and black braided (wax or silicone coated) silk sutures, this is typically manifested in a harsh foreign-body response featuring peripheral encapsulation. Substantially sericin-free silk experiences a similar, though substantially less vigorous response when implanted. In essence, the host cells identify silk as a foreign body and opt to wall it off rather than interact with it. This severely limits the subsequent long-term potential of the device particularly relating to tissue in-growth and remodeling and potentially, the overall utility of the device. If it is possible to provide a more effective biomaterial formulation for mediating host-device interactions whereby cells are provided with a recognizable, acceptable and hence biocompatible surface, the biological, medicinal and surgical utility of silk is dramatically improved.
One possible means of introducing this improved cell-material interaction is to alter the silk fibroin material format into a more biocompatible matrix. Manipulating the silk fibroin to make it into a silk hydrogel formulation is one particularly intriguing option because it consists of a silk protein network which is fully saturated with water, coupling the molecular resiliency of silk with the biocompatibility of a “wet” material. Generation of a silk hydrogel may be accomplished in short by breaking apart native silk fibroin polymers into its individual monomeric components using a solvent species, replacing the solvent with water, then inducing a combination of inter- and intra-molecular aggregation. It has been shown that the sol-gel transition can be selectively initiated by changing the concentration of the protein, temperature, pH and additive (e.g., ions and hygroscopic polymers such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poloxamer, and glycerol). Increasing the silk concentration and temperature may alter the time taken for silk gelation by increasing the frequency of molecular interactions, increasing the chances of polymer nucleation. Another means of accelerating silk gelation is through use of calcium ions which may interact with the hydrophilic blocks at the ends of silk molecules in solution prior to gelation. Decreasing pH and the addition of a hydrophilic polymer have been shown to enhance gelation, possibly by decreasing repulsion between individual silk molecules in solution and subsequently competing with silk fibroin molecules in solution for bound water, causing fibroin precipitation and aggregation.
Other silk fibroin gels have been produced by, for example, mixing an aqueous silk fibroin solution with protein derived biomaterials such as gelatin or chitosan. Recombinant proteins materials based on silk fibroin's structure have also been used to create self-assembling hydrogel structures. Another silk gel, a silk fibroin-poly-(vinyl alcohol) gel was created by freeze- or air-drying an aqueous solution, then reconstituting in water and allowing to self-assemble. Silk hydrogels have also been generated by either exposing the silk solution to temperature condition of 4° C. (Thermgel) or by adding thirty percent (v/v) glycerol (Glygel). Silk hydrogels created via a freeze-thaw process have not only been generated but also used in vitro as a cell culture scaffold.
The use of silk hydrogels as biomaterial matrices has also been explored in a number of ways. General research on hydrogels as platforms for drug delivery, specifically the release behavior of benfotiamine (a synthetic variant of vitamin B1) coupled to silk hydrogel was investigated. The study revealed both silk concentration and addition of other compounds may factor in to the eventual release profile of the material. Similarly, the release of FITC-labeled dextran from a silk hydrogel could be manipulated by altering the silk concentrations within the gel.
Further studies of silk hydrogels have been performed in vivo as well. For example, the material has been used in vivo to provide scaffolding for repair of broken bones in rabbits and showed an accelerated healing rate relative to control animals. Of particular interest, the in situ study also illustrated that the particular formulation of silk hydrogel did not elicit an extensive immune response from the host.
Despite early promise with silk hydrogel formulations in vivo, sericin contamination remains a concern in their generation and use just as with native fibroin for reasons of biocompatibility as well as the potential for sericin to alter gelation kinetics. The existence of sericin molecules in the silk solution intermediate prior to gelation may also compromise final gel structural quality, i.e., the distribution of β-sheet structure. For these reasons the removal of sericin from silk fibroin material prior to hydrogel manufacture remains a concern. The potential for disruption of gelation kinetics and structure by contaminants also presents the need for development of a process which consistently ensures structural uniformity and biocompatibility.